Book Review

The Salesman Who Doesn’t Sell – A Marketing Guide to Making Money While You Sleep by Brian J Greenberg is a book which I recently picked up to read. With the escalating cost of living I have always been looking out for ways to make more money to support the kids and myself. I have been very hesitant about doing sales as I’m not very outgoing however since I’ve started embracing challenges this is something that I haven’t phased out giving a try.

In the 4 sections of the book Brian shows how one can do the following.

Influence without selling

How to get found

Practice what you preach

How to keep growing

One will need to do some investment first in branding yourself before you are able to start attracting the right customers/clients. There maybe upfront cost developing a professional looking website , getting a suitable office address and telephone system to project a professional image.

Social proof is extremely important for marketers and even so when everything is online nowadays. With it well established it will be easier to get others to jump on the bandwagon and gain more business. One will need to “dress up” their website with seals of guarantees, testimonials, clients profiles and other types of endorsements to improve on the website’s Klout.

Product and service reviews help to build up the reputation of your brand. Seals and Guarantees also help to boost your credibility online. Showing statistics and your portfolio online also helps to get more people aware of your capabilities and services that you offer.

It is all about getting leverage on the different platforms available online and offline. To be clearly VISIBLE by using other ranked platforms to direct traffic to your side. Getting Keywords pointing to your site ranked and having it being reflected on the 1st page of GOOGLE search.

Having a good clean image also helps to boost your reputation online. Good customer service and being customer focused is recommended by the author.

My thoughts

Reliability on reviews to promote one’s product or service can be questionable. Many websites put up testimonials to increase their credibility however I personally am skeptical on the authenticity of such writings. With the advancement of the internet and also rise of many online markets/ stores. It is increasingly difficult to make one’s presence known in the global marketplace. It is increasingly difficult to create a niche for oneself. The rules of engagement are constantly changing and visibility is slipping through the cracks. Even though the author does give some good suggestions most of the techniques recommended are not that effective in the current climate given the constantly changing algorithms with the different modes of marketing. Nevertheless it does make a good start for one who is interested in creating a presence online.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are 100% mine

In his book he explains the reasons why parents have been failing. Many of them do not introduce the WORD to their kids on a daily basis. The limited interaction the kids have with the scripture makes it more difficult for them to understand and seek GOD.

When you give children the Word daily, you give them God daily, and trust me; they need God daily.

It is important to live by the WORD and be the one as the parent to show how the scriptures can be part of everyday life. This will help to keep them grounded and away from the temptation of evil. The lackadaisical attitude that adults have been having towards developing spiritual awareness and guidance of our youth have led to more and more social ills.

We need to be good examples to our kids so they can follow and imitate our behavior and be in GOD’s favor.

We should be able to say what Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV).

We need to let the child take the rein and show us his learning. He needs to read the bible for himself and explain his understanding of the scriptures to be able to reflect on the message that is being transmitted. We need to train our kids and not just preach to them. It takes a discipline parent to incorporate the love of GOD in their child. It also takes time for the child to get to know and be able to communicate with GOD as we are currently doing.

We are given all the tools that we need to be able to guide our kids in their spiritual walk.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. —Psalm 1:1–3 (NKJV)

Lee mentions in his book that parents play a very important role in guiding their kids towards living Godly lives. Their actions and choices that they make on behalf of their kids help to give their kids the proper directions in life. Whatever you do as a parent impacts on the lives of your child.

He shares with his readers 9 principles which will help to guide them as parents.

Commit Each Child to God

Holiness Lived infront of Them

Instruct and Train your Child in the way they should Go

Love and esteem your spouse properly

Declare your Child’s Future

Receive resources on Marriage and Family regularly

Esteem and love your Child Properly

Never let your child stay under Ungodly Influence

My thoughts

I could really relate to what LEE was saying in his book. We need to make cautious effort as a parent in help to develop our kids spiritual life. Putting emphasis on teaching our kids how to create a relationship with GOD has equal weightage to teaching our kids about what they need to learn academically.

I personally am focusing a lot on my personal walk with GOD and hope to be able to guide the kids in their walk too. Being a Single Parent without external help it has been difficult balancing all the different role together with keeping sane. The dynamics in the family has been quite unbalanced due to the inability of the kids father to properly play his part in their lives. However not all has been lost in ensuring that they are other ways that the kids can get proper spiritual guidance through the church that we are currently attending.

Reading the book gave me more clarity on how I am to continue guiding the kids on their spiritual walk and how to focus on my spiritual goals too.